9 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has denounced this Tuesday arbitrary arrests and “systematic” acts of impunity at the hands of security forces in Libya, for which reason he has asked the international community to suspend migration agreements with the North African country.
“Trafficking, torture, forced labour, extortion, hunger and intolerable conditions in detention… This is impunity on a grand scale,” Turk said, warning that “mass expulsions and the sale of human beings are widespread” in Libya.
In this regard, he pointed out that there is a continuous “dehumanization” exercised not only by state actors but also by non-state factions in Libya, according to a statement from his office.
He urged the authorities to investigate possible crimes against thousands of vulnerable people trying to leave the country and recalled the discovery of a mass grave last March in southwestern Libya, where there were at least 65 remains of suspected migrants.
“As if this were not terrible enough, we are following reports of a mass grave found in a desert area on the border between Tunisia and Libya. The loved ones of those who have died have every right to know the truth,” he said.
In this regard, he has urged a review of the agreements between Libya and EU countries to intercept migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe, an agreement that has been criticised on numerous occasions by human rights organisations, which accuse the Libyan Coast Guard of acting recklessly.
It is estimated that since April 2023, more than 2,400 people have died or gone missing trying to cross the central Mediterranean, of whom 1,300 have departed from Libya. “It is illogical that those seeking safety and dignity are suffering and dying in unspeakable circumstances,” he said.
“I would like to remind all Member States that they have a collective responsibility under international law to save lives and prevent deaths at sea,” he said.
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